Visiting Expert: Joana Silva

Visiting Expert

Visiting Expert

Resources

Joana Silva will be a visiting expert in the Development Research Group from August 6-September 6, 2013 and in January 2014. She is a Senior Economist in the Human Development Department of the World Bank’s Latin America and Caribbean Region. Since joining the World Bank in 2007 as a Young Professional, Joana has worked on education and labor, social safety nets, poverty and inequality, firm dynamics and international trade. While at the Bank she has authored thematic Flagship Reports (e.g. as Task Team Leader for the 2013 MENA Development Report: Inclusion and Resilience), managed cross-sectoral lending projects and advisory activities (e.g. Task Team Leader for innovative Social Protection projects), and contributed to a range of analytical studies on design and evaluation of social welfare systems, political economy, labor markets, international integration and investment climate. Her research has been published in professional journals such as the Journal of International Economics (3 Papers), Economics Letters, and Review of World Economics. She has also authored several books and book chapters. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Nottingham.

During her visit her top three priorities are to:

Deepen and extend previous research based on analytical and operational work. This includes examining the long-term impacts of conditional cash transfers and the extent to which these programs have translated into better education of recipient households including having better learning outcomes. This work builds on experience and uses data from Brazil's conditional cash transfer program Bolsa Família.

Generate productive working relationships with staff within the Development Research Group and obtain feedback to finalize a working paper based on a behavioral experiment conducted in Jordan in the context of last year’s MENA Development Report: Inclusion and Resilience. The experiment elicited preferences on redistribution and safety nets design, and evaluated the impact of enhancing transparency on willingness to redistribute, with the goal of better understanding how the design and transparency of safety net programs can augment or diminish public support for them.

Examine issues around the impact of international competition on the skill composition of firms. Her work will focus in particular on the critical question of how firms that export upgrade the skills of their employees (hiring/firing; training; promotions).